Hampton Park is through to the grand final in Southern Division 2 after defeating Highett in the second semi-final by 24 points.
Midway through the second quarter, the scoreboard read 32-0 and it looked as though Hampton Park would walk out of Springvale Reserve and into the grand final.
But Highett kicked into action and got the margin back to just 11 points midway through the final term.
There were nerves … but the minor premiers kicked away late to hold on.
“Our first half was fantastic, but we just went into preservation mode a bit in the second half and tried to protect a score a bit – you can’t do that in a big final,” Hampton Park coach Luke Bull said.
“They came back and got within 11 points which gave us a little bit of a fright there, but we were lucky enough to peg a few back when they did get close.
“We are pretty pumped with the result and keen to have a week off.”
It was a big day for Hampton Park, with its reserves team setting the tone beforehand, progressing to the grand final.
The seniors followed suit, looking a class above in the opening quarter and while they had a slight breeze, they were dominant.
But inaccuracy hurt the Redbacks’ ability to establish a healthy margin as they kicked 1.6 (12) to no score.
Despite some chances going begging, Bull was full of positivity at quarter time with a measured speech.
He was happy with the pressure and the ball use and said the scoreboard would look after itself if they continued to play that way.
Despite Liam Scott’s influence being quelled by two defenders, Bull said Trent Thomas wasn’t getting enough respect and foreshadowed the damage he could cause
“It was a really impressive start, I really put it on the midfield group throughout the week to lock it in,” he said.
“We watched a lot of tape and studied them pretty well, we nullified their good players who liked to spread which was huge for us.”
Redbacks started capitalising on their midfield ascendancy in the second term, kicking three goals before Highett could even get it past halfway.
Loud crowds rode the momentum waves, desperately trying to lift their respective teams.
With Mason Hawkins out injured, Jye King took the sole ruck duties and did brilliantly, as Scott started to fire.
Highett’s first highlight didn’t come until late in the second quarter when Hampton Park turned it over in defence.
This resulted in Jacob Apted, Highett’s most damaging player, running to 50 and launching home a goal – a turning point for the Bulldogs … they were inspired.
They kicked two early goals after the break, before the Redbacks bounced back with three in reply.
The three-quarter time margin was 29 points, but when the Bulldogs booted the first three of the final quarter, a hush crept over the sea of red and black.
Enter Trent Thomas for the moment of the game.
A loose kick out of Highett’s defence missed the target and was coming back inside 50 through Thomas, who beat his opponent with a handball along the ground.
Tucked up against the right boundary line, he gathered it before doing the same thing to evade another opponent.
He looked inboard and hit Jackson Dalton on the chest directly in front, who went back and slotted it – it felt like they were home.
“Trent has serious X-Factor and if you don’t pay any respect to him, he will turn the game on its head, which he did,” Bull said.
“He kicked goals at very crucial times for us.”
Thomas finished with four goals in a best-on-ground performance, while Makaio Haywood and Scott kicked two each – Jayden Weichard and Dylan Morris also impressed.
“Liam Scott has been our best forward all year and got well held today with two guys on him, but that is the beauty of it, five other guys can go bananas in the forward line,” Bull said.
“It’s all coming together at the right time of year for us now.”
Highett’s Jacob Apted and Sam Jackson combined for five of the team’s eight goals, while Bailey Searle was their best.
In the other game, Chelsea Heights was too good for Mordialloc, winning by 43 points to set up a preliminary final clash against Highett.
Despite a slow start where the Demons trailed 23-7 at quarter time, they bounced back to win easily as Declan Lee, Nathan Wright and Erishmiilan Uthayakumar each kicked three goals – Zachary Kercheval was the Bloods’ best player.
SOUTHERN DIVISION 2
Results – Semi-Finals: Hampton Park 11.13 (79) def Highett 8.7 (55), Chelsea Heights 13.11 (89) def Mordialloc 6.10 (46).
Fixture: Preliminary Final – Highett v Chelsea Heights at Springvale Reserve.
